Abstract

Sinking particles carry with them many different elements and organic compounds, some of which are essential to support life. The depths at which these are dissolved and then redistributed by ocean currents to rise again to the surface controls nutrient distributions that regulate the ocean’s productivity and the global cycles of many elements. The flux of carbon controls the rate at which oceans can adsorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the flux of organic materials provides the fuel to support life below the sunlit surface ocean. Additionally, the residual flux material that survives remineralization to be preserved in ocean sediments carries with it many details about past ocean conditions that can be used to reconstruct the earth’s history.

Since 1978, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) sediment trap time-series has continuously measured the deep particle flux in the northern Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. The OFP has produced a seminal record of variability in flux magnitude and composition at time-scales of weeks to decades. This talk will provide an overview of the OFP time-series and current OFP studies that have elucidated key processes controlling elemental flux and cycling within the water column.